<p>I don’t know if OP is still monitoring this thread, but my response to cheating is situational based on the expected response of the professor.</p>
<p>During my freshman calculus class final exam (graded on curve), there were three students in the back row behind me who held conferences every time the professor left the room. After the third occurence (Why did the professor leave the room three times during a two-hour exam anyway?), my frustration became unbearable. I went to the front of the room to turn them in. The professor simply asked me to finish my exam and meet with him when everyone was finished. During this post-exam conference, he told me that he knew the students were cheating and his response was to grade their exams more rigorously, allowing less room for partial credit.</p>
<p>The injustice of this response still makes me upset. First of all, I am sure that my grade was lower simply because I had difficulty concentrating due to their collaboration. Secondly, the punishment did not fit the crime - what if their collaboration produced exactly the right answer and partial credit was not a factor at all? Finally, and most imporantly, since the professor never confronted the students, there was no due process. It made me wonder what would happen if the professor believed incorrectly that an innocent student was cheating. The student would have a lower grade based on improper assumptions.</p>